The Day We Met
by Clockshapedwalls
Summary: A/U He had never had a great presence until that day. He was always silent and never attracted anyone's attention. His head was always either looking down or nowhere. He was an outcast. A loner. One day Caroline sneaks into a music concert and somehow finds herself wandering under the stage. It is dark and she cannot see a thing. There, she meets a stranger...


Note: I haven't seen Season 5 or 6, so excuse me if some of the characters are OOC.

He had never had a great presence until that day. He was always silent and never attracted anyone's attention. His square glasses and black clothes helped him blend into the dull middle school classroom. His head was always either looking down or nowhere.

No one ever paid attention to him. No one ever wanted to, either. He was an outcast. A loner. A socially awkward penguin.

Caroline and her friends would always find him smoking cigarettes under the bleachers or skipping classes. All the teachers shook their heads and called him a rebel.

On the other hand, Caroline was a perfect student. She had good grades, was in the cheerleading team, and had two amazing friends. There was no reason for her to cross paths with that troublesome boy. Absolutely no reason at all.

It was a humid day when it happened.

"Do you remember Tori, that chick with black hair?"

"You mean the one who wouldn't stop chewing her gum loudly?"

"Yeah, that one. Guess what? She's dead."

"What?"

One day, a student from Mystic Falls Middle School vanished. The news claimed that she was dead. Her body was found not too far away from Mystic Grill.

As expected, her death shook the whole school. Mystic Falls was a small town. Even the pettiest news attracted gossip and controversy. Caroline remembered this one time a junior from Mystic Falls High School got arrested for shoplifting. It wasn't a big deal, but it was enough to get the town fired up.

Naturally, theories about how Tori died began to blossom. Caroline thought most of them were stupid.

That's when someone said, "Hey Mikaelson, is it true that Tori confessed to you before?"

That got everyone to shut up.

"Oh yeah, I remember," someone else said slowly, "she asked you out on a date and you refused."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Klaus responded quietly.

One of Caroline's eyebrow did a jump. It was the first time she had ever heard his voice. He rarely, if never, spoke during class.

She wished she could hear him speak again.

"Nothing. Whatever."

"Yeah…Let's go grab lunch."

But nothing was the same after that conversation.

After class, Bonnie invited Caroline over to her house. There they studied for a math test.

"Hey, guess what my mom got me for my birthday," Bonnie said slyly, her face breaking into a grin. "Tickets to Wax Hearts!"

Caroline screamed. "Bu-but those tickets were sold out immediately," she gasped, her voice tinged with envy. "How'd your mom get her hands on those?"

"I dunno, magic?"

"That's not fair. Elena managed to get a ticket, too! And if you have one, that means you two can go together…without me."

Bonnie smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, Care, but there's always a next time. Wax Hearts announced another tour in a few months. We can go to that one."

"Jesus. I'll be old by then."

"Oh shut up, you don't even have a wrinkle on your face."

"Fine, fine. I'll let this one go…but only because it's your birthday!"

o o o

Caroline tried her best to forget about the Wax Hearts concert, but no matter what she did, she could not get her mind off of the concert. She knew that she was being silly by fretting over something so trivial. Alas, she could not stop her inner Wax Hearts fangirl from squealing.

"Mom, I—"

"No."

"What? I didn't even say anything."

"It doesn't matter. Your face told me enough."

"But mom, there's this Wax Hearts concert and I found some people who were selling tickets online."

"Yes, I knew that. You wouldn't stop talking about it during dinner."

"I really, really, really want to go to this concert," Caroline pleaded. "Wax Hearts never goes on any tours. This may be my last chance."

"Caroline, aren't you being a bit childish? You have grades to manage and chores to finish."

"I'm in 8th grade! I've maintained good grades up until now. Why can't you just give me some freedom for once? It's just one night," Caroline insisted.

Elizabeth hesitated.

"No," she said finally. "These tickets cost a fortune."

"Mo-om."

"Don't you mo-om me. Do I look rich to you?"

"Yeah, you do."

A phone call interrupted their conversation. Elizabeth gave Caroline a stern look and rushed into the kitchen. She began whispering harshly. Caroline rolled her eyes and waited impatiently for her mother to come back.

"Mom, can you hurry up? The concert's in two hours and I need a reply soon," Caroline yelled.

"Yes, yes, I understand…I'll be there," Elizabeth muttered into her phone before stuffing it into her pocket. "You aren't going anywhere tonight, young lady."

"What? Why?" Caroline said, angry.

"Another person's gone missing. It's an elementary school kid." Her mother grabbed her jacket from the table and threw it on. "They think it's the same person who was responsible for Tori's murder."

"Someone from Mystic Falls Elementary? That's miles away from here, mom. The concert is in the complete opposite direction. I can still go, can't I—"

"Quit being so immature and listen to me for once, Caroline. Can't you see that it's dangerous right now? There's a murderer out there. A kid's gone missing, for goodness' sake. I can't believe that all you can think about is some silly concert," Elizabeth said angrily. "You're staying here and that's that."

She snatched up her keys and slammed the door. Caroline glared at her mother's disappearing back and huffed angrily.

Although she knew Elizabeth was right, Caroline was infuriated.

Perhaps it was her rebellious hormones that were acting up, but her desire to go to the concert were suddenly heightened.

Caroline pulled out her own phone and dialed her two friends.

"Bonnie, Elena, I'll see you there."

"What? That's good. Did you manage to buy the tickets?"

"No," Caroline said sheepishly. "But I'm going to go, anyways."

It was only 9 o'clock when Caroline arrived, yet the place was flooded with well-dressed teenagers. She spotted a couple of brawny bouncers blocking the entrances and snuck behind a tree. The realization that she had absolutely nothing planned out dawned on her.

"Miss, what are you doing behind this tree?" a gruff voice asked. One of the security guards was glaring down at her behind thick sunglasses.

"Um…I like this tree. What's the matter?" Caroline said lamely. She mentally smacked herself for saying something so ridiculous.

"Well, you better stop. It looks very suspicious, not to mention odd."

"Okay."

The security guard slunk away. "It's just one of those weird tree huggers. There's no problem," she heard him speak into a walkie talkie.

"Bonnie, where the hell are you?" Caroline hissed under her breath.

"What's a weird tree hugger doing here?" a voice said from behind. Caroline spun around, expecting to see the same security guard again. To her great surprise, it was Damon who was standing in the spot.

Damon was one of Caroline's classmates. Although they rarely spoke to each other during school, Caroline knew Damon well enough to call him a friend.

"Damon!" Caroline breathed, relieved. "I didn't expect to see you here. You like Wax Hearts, too?"

"Nah, but I decided to come see the chicks. I heard that a lot of them wear bikinis to this kind of stuff," Damon responded with a lazy shrug.

"You know, it wouldn't hurt to be less candid," Caroline laughed. "And by the way, those aren't bikinis. They're just really short crop tops."

Damon shrugged again. "Doesn't matter. Anyways, what are you doing? Are you trying to sneak in or something?"

"Actually, yes," Caroline admitted.

"Follow me."

o o o

"Um, Damon?"

"Mhm?"

"…"

Caroline sighed and looked around her unfamiliar environment. She should've known better than to trust Damon. He was the kind who got distracted easily. Even so, Caroline could not believe that Damon was hitting on a girl in a dinky place like this. It smelled like urine and cheap deodorant.

The girl — blonde haired just like Caroline — moaned inappropriately and grasped Damon's shirt. The two of them groped each other furiously. Caroline wished she could un-see that.

"I'll…I'll just let you two make out in peace," she muttered awkwardly, her face growing red with embarrassment. The couple, whose faces were now completely glued together, ignored Caroline as she stumbled in the dark.

All Caroline could make out in the dark were tall poles. She was careful not to touch them. They were suspiciously sticky.

Caroline figured she was underneath the stage, as she kept bumping her head onto the ceiling whenever she stood up straight. She dearly hoped to get out of there soon.

Suddenly music blasted out of nowhere, causing her to squeak and lose her balance. She slipped and landed face-first on the ground.

"Ow," she moaned, rubbing her cheeks. The smell of wet grass and smoke tingled her nose. It made her want to puke.

Caroline tried to get onto her knees when something moved underneath her. She let out a hoarse scream and jumped to the side. She never recalled the grass being this soft.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't step on me again," a voice grunted. "You're surprisingly heavy."

"Who the hell are you?" Caroline snapped rudely, agitated by the person's comment about her weight. "And what are you doing down here?"

"I could say the same thing. I escaped because I didn't want to be groped by a thousand screaming, sweaty girls. What's your excuse?"

"I…I came here because I was following my friend," Caroline said. There was no need for her to mention that she was planning to sneak in.

Their voices were drowned by the band beginning.

"Is everyone ready!?" she heard the band leader yell. The crowd responded with hysteric shrieks. "Let's goo!"

"I'll be going," Caroline muttered, balancing herself on the rumbling ground. She tried to move forward again and tripped over him again. She fell down with another scream.

"Why don't you just stay here?" he hollered over the music.

"Because I don't want to be here with some creep I don't know," Caroline snorted.

"Ouch, that hurt. I'm not a creep."

"Who knows what you'll try to do here? I'll just be off."

"Sweetheart, don't be offended, but I'm not attracted to clumsy girls like you. And at this rate you'll just break your legs if you keep moving. There are a lot of wires for you to trip over, you know?"

"O-okay," Caroline hollered back. "Um, well, I'll sit here then."

"Why the sudden awkwardness? Just lay down."

Caroline thanked the gods that it was too dark for them to see anything. It would've been rather embarrassing if this person could see how red her face was.

Caroline gingerly lowered herself to the ground and, without thinking, placed her hands over her chest. She suddenly became very conscious of her breathing.

"I won't do anything you you. Relax," he grunted. He took out a lighter and for a brief instant, Caroline was able to catch a glimpse of his rough hands.

She felt prompted to say something.

"Smoking kills, you know?"

"Yeah? So does air. We'll die eventually. One cigarette won't hurt," he laughed.

"Wow, you're really optimistic," Caroline said sarcastically. "Are you even old enough to be smoking?"

"Want one?"

"You're joking."

"I'll take that as a no."

This time Caroline surprised herself by bursting into laughter. She didn't find anything funny, but the laughter came so unexpectedly. She heard a smirk — not necessarily a mean one — beside her.

"You should spend more time laughing, not scowling. You have a beautiful laugh."

"Hmph…"

"What's with the hmph? That was a compliment."

"And you, sir, shouldn't go complimenting strangers like that," Caroline said. "In case you haven't noticed, it's kinda creepy—"

The music stopped abruptly. It was soon followed by a series of shrieks and annoying whistles. Caroline could make out sirens in the background. She recognized them instantly — she was used to hearing them, thanks to Elizabeth.

Then everything went silent. The screaming, the running, the whistling — it all stopped. Caroline looked up at the ceiling, breathing heavily. She could feel the vibrations of a heavy man walking across the stage.

"Excuse me, what the hell are you doing at my concert?" a male voice asked madly.

Caroline immediately knew the person who was speaking. It was Wax Heart's leader (AKA Caroline's future husband).

"I'm afraid the concert has to be cancelled."

"Who the fuc-"

"Lower your voice, son. We received a call just five minutes ago. Do you happen to recognize this woman?"

"Dude, I can't remember every face I see. Oof, she's hot. All blondes are hot."

Caroline rolled her eyes.

"Well, this blonde is dead."

"What?"

"She was found near the bottom of the stage. It was in a remote area, so no one could really see her," the police officer said. "A passerby happened to step on a pool of her blood."

"Bottom of the stage? That's not surprising. Sometimes kids sneak under there and do nasty things."

Caroline felt a soft tap on her shoulder. She was about to scream but a hand covered her mouth.

"I can hear people coming. I think you should go. It's not safe here anymore."

Caroline nodded, although she was sure that he could not see her.

"Um, well, it was nice meeting you…?"

"It's a shame something like this had to happen. Good night, sweetheart."

And with that, Caroline's night ended.

o o o

"Care! Care!" Caroline spun around and was attacked by her two friends. "We were so worried last night when we couldn't find you. And when we heard that a blonde girl died, we almost had a heart attack," Elena said, teary-eyed. "We thought it was you!"

"Where in the world were you?"

"I—I went back home early," Caroline lied. "I was tired."

"Good. I'm so glad that you're safe," Bonnie sighed in relief.

"So it's true, huh? Someone actually died?"

The three of them stood silently in the hallway. In the corner of their eyes the could see Tori's locker. It was decorated with black balloons, bouquets, candles, and letters. It was strangely too quiet.

"I'm scared," Elena said suddenly. "Mystic Falls never had a serial killer before."

"Elena, don't go saying things like that. It may have been an accident."

"Well…it doesn't really look like an accident to me."

"C'mon, all this talk about death is depressing me. Let's go to math class."

o o o

"Welcome to algebra. You may sit wherever you'd like," their math teacher said monotonously.

"Guys, look…" Bonnie said, pointing at the classroom. Caroline and Elena looked up.

The classroom was empty except for four other students.

"Most parents were afraid of letting their children attend school," their math teacher explained, handing each of them a worksheet. "A kid in this class has already left school and is planning to transfer."

"Who?" the three of them asked simultaneously.

"A boy named Klaus. I wouldn't be too surprised if anyone else left."

o o o

The murderer was never caught.

Everything tense in Mystic Falls ever since that day. Going to the mall, sleeping over at Elena or Bonnie's, or even walking in front of her house was forbidden. Caroline felt her youth slowly slipping away from her. Things she wanted to do, like having a boyfriend, going on road trips, or shopping for prom dresses remained nothing more than dreams.

Three silent years went by.

Caroline was now a junior in high school.

That's when she met him again.

o o o

Author's Note: For those of you who've read my other fanfiction and have patiently waited for me to update new chapters/stories, thank you for all the support! It really means a lot. I keep thinking about Klaroline and the days I used to strongly support the ship. But we all know what happened. Unfortunately I do not think I can continue any of my longer stories. Instead, I will most likely be posting one-shots or short 2-3 chapter stories.

The reason? I guess it's kind of obvious. I've lost inspiration to continue writing Klaroline fanfiction. I haven't watched Season 5 or 6. (Is there a Season 7?). Occasionally whenever I look at Tumblr I see these amazing Klaroline posts and feel the desire to write again. But that occurs very, very rarely. I do, however, wish that one day Klaroline will come back...!

Anyhow, if you are interested in reading more of my writing, you may visit www. the bookaholix . com (without the spaces). I, along with a few other friends, post things about books and movie adaptations.

Thank you once again!

Please do let me know if you'd like to read the second chapter of _The Day We Met_. I would be interested in writing 1-2 more chapters of this.


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